This Is Not What You Think It Is

This . . . hold onto your hats . . . is a 500-year-old mummy. All of you who think the Egyptians had a monopoly on mummies, it's time to think again. Whether they were created by man or nature, mummies have been found around the globe--in China, Peru, America, Italy, and countless other countries.

This particular example is known as "la Doncella," or The Maiden. She was fifteen years old when she was sacrificed to the gods and left on the edge of the Llullaillaco volcano on the border of Chile and Argentina. (A great honor, supposedly.)

Thousands of Inca mummies have been discovered over the years, though few are as perfectly preserved as The Maiden. However, a Chinese mummy in a similar condition plays a starring role in The Empress's Tomb. But more on THAT later.